WASHINGTON - "Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink!" That was the cry of people in the southeast Alabama city of Elba when El Nino-induced floods devastated the area, said Alabama National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. James Atchison.

WASHINGTON - A nine-person DoD search and recovery team arrived in Nicaragua March 15 to hunt for remains of a B-26 bomber crew that crashed there in 1961. The two-man civilian crew was supporting Bay of Pigs-related operations.

WASHINGTON - Where were you in '92, or any other year, for that matter? If you were a student in one of DoD's overseas schools, Overseas Brats cordially invites you to subscribe to a new, free newsletter.

WASHINGTON - If you can't face doing your taxes, don't have the time or have a complicated return or tax situation, you may want to hire a professional tax preparer, said Internal Revenue Service officials.

BRUSSELS - Based on a dual-crisis scenario, NATO's largest-ever training exercise is testing the alliance's ability to conduct territorial defense and peace support operations simultaneously at two locations.

WASHINGTON - Army Brig. Gen. Roger Schultz is both clear and direct when he talks about the potential for attacks with weapons of mass destruction: "We don't know when and we don't know the place, but we will be attacked."

BRUSSELS - As U.S. troops, combat aircraft and warships gathered in the Persian Gulf in February, the U.S. military was quietly attacked on a second front. Defense officials detected systematic, sophisticated intrusions into DoD computer networks.

WASHINGTON - Deborah Lee has three words to sum up why Guard and reserve component forces have been given primary responsibility for responding to attacks by weapons of mass destruction: "Location, location, location."

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary William Cohen deferred a decision on gender integration at the lowest levels of basic training, but told the services to implement many other recommendations made by the Kassebaum Baker Gender Integration Panel.

WASHINGTON - Five months ago, more than 30,000 people crowded the gateway to Arlington National Cemetery to witness the dedication of the Women in Military Service to America Memorial. When the memorial opened, Oct. 18, the stories of 300,000 military women were forever part of history in the computer register, the heart of the memorial.

WASHINGTON - Although a presidential advisory committee filed its final report last fall, the White House will continue monitoring DoD's investigation of Gulf War veterans' illnesses and chemical and biological warfare events during the war.

WASHINGTON - A nationwide toll-free information line now offers enrollment assistance to military families and retirees who choose the Uniformed Services Family Health Plan over TRICARE. The new number is (800) 258-7347.

WASHINGTON - "These women, from Korea to Kuwait and from Sarajevo to San Diego, ... are preserving America's freedom in ways that their mothers and grandmothers could have only dreamed," Defense Secretary William S. Cohen said March 5 during DoD's Women's History Month observance.

MONTEREY, Calif. - When John Glenn makes his historic return to space after 36 years this October, another, yet smaller feat will also make history. The Navy's first amateur satellite -- designed and built by students at the Naval Postgraduate School -- will hitchhike on the same space shuttle mission.

WASHINGTON - Flags waved in the breeze. Military bands played upbeat patriotic tunes. Welcoming crowds and throngs of people around the world cheered, cried and prayed. Television cameras beamed pictures of the returning heroes around the world. Radio waves hummed with news of their release from prison while presses cranked out stories and pictures.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Women reporting news today from Baghdad, Bosnia or any other world hot spot is not unusual. But 60 years ago, women war correspondents were a breed apart. Pioneers like Martha Gellhorn paved the way for CNN's Christiane Amanpour and others.

WASHINGTON - President Clinton has proclaimed March as American Red Cross Month. He urged Americans to support Red Cross chapters nationwide and challenged them to get involved in advancing the organization's humanitarian work.

WASHINGTON - The 36,000 U.S. service members and civilians in the Persian Gulf will start receiving anthrax vaccine this week, Pentagon officials announced March 3.Immunization for all other active duty and reserve component service members will begin this summer. The immunizations are mandatory.